there's no going back. this is the new normal.

Movies

This was by far one of the most fun weekends I've had in a long time. It was largely because I'm finally feeling a fair bit better, probably back to 80% or so after a few weeks of all my health crap flaring up. I forget how nice it is to actually have the energy to actually do all the stuff I want! Friday was pretty low key, but highlights involved going swimming for the first time in a couple years. The funny part was there was a couple triathletes there (World Triathlon Championships were in town this weekend), just to contrast the two ends of the human swimming ability spectrum. Things I forgot about swimming: 1) how psyched I get when I throw on my jeans and a hoody over my swimsuit before heading out, 2) how fun it is, and how relaxing swimming under the water can be, and 3) how much I totally suck at it!

Good times none the less, and I will definitely have to go more often now that I broke the seal! Friday night, headed over to Snootytown...I mean Yaletown, and watched House of Flying Daggers with some friends, which was actually an okay movie, very visually stunning even though the story line was a little iffy. Much goofiness and fun was had over the course of the evening.

1) Out on Screen: had comp tickets (if you don't know what it is, it's Vancouver's queer film festival--and I'm going to use the word queer even though there was much discussion during the Q&A about preferred terms), and went to The Love that Won't Shut Up. It was a short film commissioned by Out On Screen's Queer History Project, made by Veda Hille and Ivan E. Coyote who both performed several songs/spoken word pieces. Bill Munroe (one of the people in the film) also performed. The film was mainly about different perspectives on the history of the queer community in Vancouver. It was great because I learned a lot that I didn't even realize I didn't know about the topic, and it also reminded me that (even though things seem super progressive living in the West End) there are still a lot of people out there who don't accept the queer community. There was still a tangible hurt in the room when topics such as gay bashing, gay marriage, and those who are no longer with us came up. I think it's easy to forget these things are still huge issues. I had a sad moment when I started thinking of one of my most favorite profs from my undergrad who died from AIDS in April of this year, and realized that probably everyone there knew him.